Shall We Dance?
by OriginalPippie
Summary: Part of my Cutie Pie series: Can the Sweathogs reunite Epstein and Cutie Pie on time for the school dance?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one

Another start of the school week had arrived. There was a buzz throughout the hallways as posters advertising the coming dance were plastered on the walls. Different levels of excitement span through the students as they talked about the dance while heading to their classes. Leading towards the area of the remedial class, however, the topic of the dance was much less present, other than some mockery and minor questions about dates.

A group of the remedial students hung around the lockers, chattering over a dance poster that hung on the nearby wall. In the middle of their conversation, the poster fell off the wall and someone hung it back up on Epstein's locker. When they saw Epstein approaching them, they stood in front of his locker, blocking the poster.

"Hey what's going on?" He asked, looking at them with a grin. "Get outta here. Come on." He waved his hands toward them, motioning for them to move out of his way. When they stepped aside, he saw the poster and held a slight smirk. "Nice. Like the decorations there. But it would look better over here."

Epstein took the poster off his locker and taped it over Horshack's face.

"Hey, great thinking, Epstein." Vinnie said with a small laugh. "Now we don't gotta look at his face no more."

Horshack began to laugh from behind the poster, causing the others to laugh as well. As this happened, Epstein turned to his locker, frowning and muttering to himself. The bell rang right then, causing most of the group to dissipate as they went to their classes. The four Sweathogs ignored the ringing bell to hang in the hallway a little while longer. Freddie strolled over to Epstein, placing a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

"Hey Epstein what's yo' thoughts on this whole dance thing?"

Epstein shrugged his shoulders. "Well, y'know I s'pose to some it might be exciting and fun. But to others it might seem lame."

"Where do you fall in, Epstein?" Vinnie asked

"Well I ain't excited about it."

"So does that mean you think it's lame… because you ain't got no date for it?"

"Why would I care about that, Barbarino? Even if I wanted to go to the dance, I'd be able to get a date."

Epstein turned away from them and walked over to the classroom door. With his back turned to them, the other guys felt the unspoken tension from him. Freddie leaned in closer to Vinnie and lowered his voice.

"I think you hit a little below the belt there. The dude just been dumped a week ago."

Vinnie sighed "You're right." He stuck his thumbs in his belt loops and strolled over to Epstein with his head down. "Hey Epstein. Sorry 'bout what I said. Course you can get a date for the dance. And I'm sorry 'bout Cutie Pie."

Epstein shook his head. "Don't be. She's just a chick. There's other ones around. And this is just a stupid school dance. I ain't even sure if I'm gonna go yet. Y'know?"

Vinnie hesitated and then nodded his head with a slight grin. "Ok."

"Hey!" Epstein smirked "Don't sweat it. It's cool."

Vinnie grinned and then walked past him into the classroom. Freddie walked up to him with a grin, and Horshack following blindly close behind him.

"Glad you're takin' this so well, Epstein." Freddie patted him on the back as he entered the classroom.

Horshack reached out with one hand, feeling the air beside him. When his hand landed on Epstein's head, getting tangled in his hair, Horshack started laughing. This caused Epstein to give him a small shove away from him. Horshack then pulled the poster off his face.

"Oh there you are, Little Juan!" He said still with a slight laugh in his voice.

"What do you want, Horshack?"

"I just wanted to tell you that if you talk to Cutie Pie then maybe it's not too late for her to be your date for the dance."

"Thanks, Horshack, but she dumped me. So I don't think she'll want to dance with me."

"You don't know that for sure. Maybe you could do what Mr. Kotter said and do something romantic to win her back."

Epstein nodded his head with a slight grin. "Sure."

Horshack patted Epstein's chest, taping the poster to it. "Cheer up." He tapped Epstein's chin with his fist. "Buckaroo."

Horshack entered the classroom, leaving Epstein alone in the hallway. Epstein was about to enter the room as well but hesitated. He grinned, nodding his head as he removed the poster from his shirt and tossed it to the floor. Feeling inspiration hit him, he turned in the opposite direction to head down the hallway with a plan in mind.

...

With just five minutes left in the class, Epstein entered the room. He slunk past Gabe, who happened to have his back turned while writing on the chalkboard, and quietly sat at his desk. When Gabe turned around, his eyes were drawn immediately to Epstein. He stood for a short moment, smirking at the student, while deciding what to say to him.

"Epstein. How nice of you to finally join us. I was hoping you'd never show up."

"What?" Epstein grinned. "I've been here the whole time, Mr. Kotter."

"Right." Gabe nodded. "You must have been hiding the whole time, because I would have noticed you for sure."

"I wasn't hiding. Been right here at my desk the whole time." he grinned again, wriggling his eyebrows and pointed at Gabe. "You must be losing your sight, Mr. Kotter."

Gabe gave him a look to show that he was not amused. However, Epstein held onto his grin as he continued speaking.

"Alright so I wasn't here. But I have a real good excuse." he patted his pockets as though in a search for something. "The funny thing is I don't got a note. Don't need one, though 'cause I was discussing something with Principal Lazarus."

Freddie leaned in closer to him. "What was you talkin' to him about? You bribing him to keep you out of detention fo' the rest of the semester?"

Horshack laughed. "Good one, Freddie!" He attempted to slap him a low five, but Freddie pulled his hand away.

"Talkin' him into clearin' your permanent record?" Vinnie grinned.

"It ain't nothin' like that!" Epstein replied with a slight laugh

"Well what _were _you talking to him about?" Gabe asked "Establishing some sort of alibi?"

"It's a secret." Epstein smirked "But everybody should find out soon."

Epstein leaned back in his seat a little as he placed his legs on the chair of the desk next to him. The smirk that he held on his face was full of pride and this appearance drew curiosity towards what he could have planned. However, before anyone could question Epstein about his actions, the bell rang, ending the class.

All the other students left the classroom before Epstein stood up. He nonchalantly strolled past Gabe's desk and over to the door. Gabe looked at him curiously, gaining his attention.

"So what is this scheme of yours, Juan, and how much trouble could you get into over it?"

"Nobody's going to get into trouble, Mr. Kotter." he grinned. "Don't worry, it's good."

Gabe grimaced. "Epstein, when one of you Sweathogs tells me not to worry, that means I should be very worried. Because the last time one of you said that, Mr. Woodman's car was covered in graffiti and TP'd."

"Well this time you really don't have to worry." He grinned again and left the room.

After taking a quick stop at his locker, Epstein ducked around the corner and headed down the hall toward Cutie Pie's locker. He watched her reach her locker, beginning to rummage through it. While she was preoccupied with the objects inside her locker, he stood right next to it, hiding himself behind the open door. When she closed the door, she was startled when she saw him standing there, leaning on the neighboring locker.

"Oh! Juan!" She said with a slight surprised gasp. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you for a sec. Kinda wanted to talk to you."

"Well it'll have to be a short conversation since there's not much time before I have to be in my next class."

"That's fine." he glanced around, looking up towards the PA system. "I'll just get to the point. Cutie Pie, I really care about you and I know you care about me. But I don't see why we ain't together." He glanced toward the PA again. "Y'know you never told me why you broke up with me."

She sighed slightly. "I know, Juan. And I'm sorry." She raised an eyebrow a little, as she looked at him. "What's going on? Why do you keep looking around like that?"

He shook his head. "Oh nothing! No reason. Look, I just wanted to let you know how much I care about you, y'know? I think we should still be together. I can't really think of the words to express how I feel about you, or what's on my mind." He glanced at the PA again, seeming impatient. "So I thought I'd use someone else's words instead."

"What's going on?"

"Just wait. And listen."

He stood behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders. She could not help smiling a little as she felt the familiar warmth and comforting feeling that he provided. Just when her curiosity had risen even more, prompting her to attempt to question his actions, he shushed her. In that moment, Principal Lazarus's voice rang through the PA system.

"I'm not a radio DJ, so don't any of you expect me to do this again. This is being done as a favor for a certain student. All I can say is…" He cleared his throat. "Good luck, Juan Epstein. I hope you know what you're doing."

All eyes of the surrounding students turned to Epstein and Cutie Pie. Curiosity and confusion filled the air as music escaped through the PA system. Within the first couple notes, Cutie Pie recognized the song, which happened to be her favorite one, and she looked at Epstein in surprise. He just gave a small nod, grinning a little at her. When the chorus of the song came in, he mouthed the words along with it.

"… Alison, I know this world is killing you. Oh Alison, my aim is true…"

Cutie Pie, still looking at him in surprise, began to smile a little. "This is real sweet, but… I still don't really understand."

"Will this help?"

He leaned in a little, and brought her in closer for a deep kiss. When they slowly separated, she gazed into his eyes, showing him how touched she was, and what seemed to be lingering feelings.

"Juan I…" She hesitated, becoming more serious. "Sorry I can't do this…" taking him by complete surprise, she quickly walked away.

Epstein stood, stunned, watching her as she left. Once she was out of his sight, he looked around bewildered, while trying not to show he was also heartbroken. Seeing the other students staring at him, he waved them away before anyone could say a word to him.

"C'mon! There ain't nothin' for you to look at! Get outta here, all of you!"

The other students, partially leaving by his cue, muttered their comments amongst themselves. Epstein stood there by the lockers, waiting until the other students were gone. Once he was sure he was alone, he leaned against the closest locker and folded his arms across his chest. He frowned, realizing that the music was still playing. In a bout of frustration towards being rejected in front of everybody, he turned toward the locker and punched it. Shaking his hand, despite the fact this did nothing to ease the pain, he then moved on, walking with a scowl towards his next class.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

Frowning, Gabe entered the teacher's lounge. He then turned back toward the door, looking into the hallway.

"Epstein will you get in here?"

Taking his teacher's cue, Epstein entered the room, visibly upset. He crossed the room in a huff and then stood with his back turned toward Gabe. Scowling, he folded his arms over his chest and looked down at the floor.

"What's the matter with you, Epstein?" Not getting a response from his student, Gabe entered another question. "Talk to me, Epstein, why were you fighting with Todd Ludlow?"

"Well Mr. Kotter, I guess I got tired of punchin' the lockers so I decided to hit something that might hit back."

"Why would you do that?"

Epstein whirled around to face Gabe. "He _laughed _at me, Mr. Kotter. Nobody laughs at me and gets away with it. Also, Todd Ludlow always bugged me." He raised a fist, shaking it a little. "I always wanted to knock that smug grin off his face every time he looks at me."

Gabe lowered Epstein's fist and placed it by his side. "You can't just start fighting Todd Ludlow every time he laughs at you or gives you a smug look." He paused briefly "Wait a minute. Why were you punching the lockers?"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

Gabe sighed, watching him turns away. "I just caught you fighting with Todd, which you say started because he _laughed _at you. Then you say this was after you were hitting the lockers. Now what set you off, Juan. What got you so upset you felt the best thing for you to do was punch the lockers?"

"Alright, alright!" Epstein exclaimed, turning back to face him. "It was because of Susie." He pointed a finger at Gabe. "But it was partly your fault!"

Gabe was stunned and looked at him bewildered. "_My _fault?"

"Yeah!" Epstein softened his features. "Yeah. If it weren't for you sayin' I should do something to win her back, I wouldn't of had to make a fool of myself in front of everybody when she turned me down."

Gabe cringed. "Oh. Juan I'm sorry that happened to you. But it's still no reason to beat up Todd."

"Well what _is a_ reason to beat him up?"

"There is no reason, Juan."

"Then what am I supposed to do, Mr. Kotter? Susie won't even talk to me. I tried taking your stupid advice to win her back and I got humiliated in front of everybody! She broke my heart, Mr. Kotter. Tell me what I'm supposed to do about that."

"There are ways to deal with that sort of thing that don't involve punching defenseless lockers or rearranging Todd Ludlow's face."

"What _are _they?"

Gabe walked over to the door and shut it before walking to the couch. "Come over here, Epstein. Let's sit and talk this over." He sat down.

Epstein let out a heavy sigh and hunched his shoulders a little. He hesitated before walking over to the couch to sit by Gabe.

...

It was the next morning and thanks to the previous day's massacre of Todd Ludlow in the hallway, nobody dared to bring up the subject of Cutie Pie to Epstein. As well, Epstein strolled into the school with a grin, appearing as though he was not affected by the events of the previous day. When he approached his friends, they were gathered in front of Gabe's classroom in the middle of a game involving throwing quarters against the nearest wall. Epstein stood back a little and watched as Freddie tossed his quarter. The coin landed a few inches away from the wall, much closer to it than the other quarters. Freddie cheered with a laugh, turning towards Vinnie and slapped him a double low five. Seeing this, Epstein fished a quarter from his pocket and jumped into the game with a smile.

"Watch this." He said with a laugh, preparing to toss his quarter.

He tossed the quarter and then he and everyone else watched as it hit the wall, ricocheting off it. The coin darted a little bit down the hall.

"Very impressive Little Juan." Horshack said with a slight tone of sarcasm before laughing.

"No problem."

Epstein walked towards where his quarter landed. Ignoring the other people around, he bent down to pick up the quarter. As he grasped the coin, he spied a pair of familiar looking platform shoes. Hesitating slightly to stand upright, he hoped that the shoes were on the feet of another girl than who was on his mind. His shoulders stiffened a little as he gazed upon the face that peeked through the fanned out curled brown locks. Seeing the small, slightly sad grin, he frowned a little, as he looked at her, not knowing what to say.

"Hey Juan."

"Cutie Pie." He looked away from her.

"So, Juan I, uh, I was hoping I'd run into you before class."

"Uh huh." He turned away from her and looked towards the ceiling.

"I would like to talk to you." She paused for a second, hoping for a response, instead he remained quiet and seemingly refusing to look at her. "You could at least look at me and pretend to listen to what I have to say."

"I have to get to class."

Walking away, without looking back at her, Epstein headed back to his friends. What he did not see was Cutie Pie standing there watching him with a frown. She sighed in frustration, shaking her head a little as she turned to walk away.

Sitting in the classroom was all but comfortable for Epstein, even while amongst his friends. As he sat there, he did not hear a single word that came from Gabe, even if he wanted to pay attention to the lesson. He glanced up from the doodles he had made on the paper in front of him and looked at the other students. One female student in particular caught his eyes as she sat there checking and fixing her hair in a little compact mirror. The way her hair was styled instantly brought Epstein's thoughts onto Cutie Pie. With a frown, he shook his head and looked away in search for a distraction. Coincidentally, as he was looking for a distraction, someone behind him tapped him on the shoulder. He glanced behind him to see Rosalie sporting a small smirk.

"Hey, Hotsie. What's going on?"

"I was wondering that about you."

"What do you mean?"

"Noticed you and Cutie Pie in the hallway. What was that about?"

Epstein shrugged a little. "Nothing really. She wanted to talk but I didn't have the time."

"That's crazy!" She laughed. "Epstein you've been trying to get her to talk to you since you broke up. Now she wants to talk and you 'don't have time'?"

"Well… yeah. I mean, y'know, at first I still had feelings for her and wanted to still be with her. But now I ain't really bothered by it. I'm actually glad to be a single man." He grinned, "Frees me up to be with other girls, y'know?"

"Yeah." She leaned back and grinned. "Whatever you say, Epstein."

Looking away from her, Epstein then glanced down at his deck. The doodles on his paper once again took his attention. He had to distract himself from the fact that certain images within the doodles oddly reminded him of Cutie Pie; but this only made him think about her even more. His thoughts were interrupted, however, only when the bell rang, ending the class. He sat up, however, only when the bell rang, ending the class. He sat up, watching everyone else leave the classroom. Finally, he left the room and headed toward his locker.

As he rummaged through his locker, he kept to himself, blocking out everyone else around him. He then turned and headed down the hallway, ignoring the fact that his friends were talking about him.

Rosalie stepped closer to Vinnie while looking at everyone else in the group. She was the one who introduced the topic of Epstein's behavior in the classroom. At the same time, Vinnie mentioned the interaction he noticed between Epstein and Cutie Pie just before class started. These two things sparked the attention of the rest of the group.

"Cutie Pie actually wanted to talk to Epstein and he blew her off?" Vernajean asked, surprised. "Is that boy crazy?"

"Maybe Little Juan just got scared of her." Horshack suggested.

"I think yo' the one who's crazy, Arnold." said Freddie. "Epstein ain't ever been scared of nothin', especially no girl. And Cutie Pie ain't exactly the most intimidating girl around."

Vinnie nodded, pointing at Freddie. "He's right. Epstein's just playin' hard to get with her. He might be acting like he don't got feelings for her any more, but he does. He just ain't gonna admit it 'cause he's still hurting."

"Of course." Rosalie replied "And from what I've seen in Cutie Pie lately, she still cares about him too. _She's _the one who's scared. I think she secretly wants to still be with him but she doesn't know what to do about it."

"How do you know that about her?" Vinnie asked

"I see her in the halls a lot. And I sit next to her sister in Miss Fishbeck's class. We started talking about them."

Vernajean shook her head a little. "We've got to get them together so they can talk. They obviously ain't gonna do it on their own."

"But how are we gonna do that?"

Horshack's question brought them into silence as they all began to ponder the situation. Before either of them could come up with a solution, the bell rang, breaking their concentration. Realizing they should have been in their classes by now, they all turned to walk in separate directions. Vinnie lifted his head as he looked at Rosalie.

"So, Cutie Pie's sister." he started, gaining her attention. "Is she available?"

Rosalie grinned, playfully pushing him forward with one hand. "Forget it, Vinnie. Keep your focus." She laughed.

Vinnie nodded with a grin before allowing her to walk ahead of him.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three:

Vernajean opened her compact mirror and checked her hair. She adjusted her barrettes before glancing up into the nearby classroom. When she looked into the room, she immediately spied Cutie Pie sitting at one of the long black lab tables. Trying to gain her attention, Vernajean waved her hand while calling out her name in a loud whisper.

"Cutie! Cutie! C'mere!"

As she did then, it not only sparked Cutie Pie's attention, but the attention of Mr. Piper^ as well. Mr. Piper walked over to the door and adjusted his glasses as he looked at Vernajean.

"Ah miss Williams! What a pleasant surprise. What exactly is it that you, uh, have come to my classroom for?"

"Actually Mr. Piper, I came to get Cutie Pie. We're taking pictures for the yearbook."

"Pictures for the yearbook? Where's your camera?"

"Camera? Oh see somebody else is bringing it." She looked toward Cutie Pie and waved her over "C'mon Cutie Pie let's go!"

With a slight grin, Cutie Pie stood up and grabbed her book bag before walking over to the door. She greeted Vernajean with a smile and looked at the teacher.

"That's right. Hot- ah, Rosalie Totsie is getting the camera and meeting us where we're taking the pictures."

Mr. Piper looked from Cutie Pie to Vernajean for confirmation. The girls both nodded. "Alright girls you are excused."

The girls thanked Mr. Piper before walking away from the classroom. They waited until the teacher re-entered the classroom and closed the door, before they darted down the hallway, heading towards freedom as they saw it. Once they were far enough away, joining Rosalie and Vinnie, they stopped to greet their friends. Vernajean turned to look at Cutie Pie.

"Now that we're here, do you have any idea why I got you out of class?"

Cutie Pie sat her book bag down on the floor beside her. "I don't really care. Just as long as I'm not in Mr. Piper's class right now." She rolled her eyes.

Rosalie grinned. "Yeah we thought you could use a break."

Vinnie patted his chest, over the pocket of his jean jacket. "Got a special break for all of us to share right here."

Looking from his pocket to his face, Cutie Pie snickered. "I like those kind of breaks the best." She picked up her book bag. "Let's go."

The four of them then headed down the hallway towards the nearest exit. First, checking to be sure the coast was clear; Vinnie opened the door for the girls. Once all the girls were outside, Vinnie followed them, closing the door behind. Quickly and as quietly as possible, the students ducked around to the side of the building where they were sure to be away from any windows. Vinnie leaned coolly against the wall and reached into his jacket pocket. As he pulled out a lighter from his pocket, he grinned with a slight chuckle.

"Always the best kind of break during the school day." He glanced at all three girls "Unless one of you wants to make out." Receiving only un-amused expressions, he nodded with a grin. "Ok we'll do this instead."

A few minutes later, as a small cloud of smoke surrounded the students, they all laughed together. Their laughter died down and the smoke cloud began dissipating as the topic of the day was introduced to Cutie Pie.

"So, Cutie Pie," Vinnie said, "We've been friends with Epstein for a while and with you for a while too. We know you two ain't together no more, but we've seen how happy the two-a you were together."

Cutie Pie looked down "Oh yeah… what's this about, Vinnie?"

Rosalie grinned slightly, gaining Cutie Pie's attention "We know you were tryin' to talk to Epstein before, an' he gave you the cold shoulder, didn't he?" Cutie Pie nodded "Epstein still really cares about you, Cutie Pie."

"He does?"She looked at all of them for confirmation, trying not to seem too hopeful. "Well it sure

didn't seem like it."

"Well he does." Vernajean replied, placing a hand on Cutie Pie's shoulder. "He's just hurtin' right now because you wouldn't talk to him when he wanted to. And when he tried winning you back you turned him down."

"I know." She looked down again "I feel bad about it. But I have good reasons why I haven't talked to him yet." She shook her head. "It doesn't matter now, since he won't talk to me again."

"You don't know that!" said Vinnie "You don't know he won't talk to you again. Look, I happen to know this 'cause he's like my best friend, but he still wants to be with you."

"Well he must not want to be with me enough to talk to me." She turned to head towards the door. "I should get to class. Thanks for the break guys, I needed it."

Cutie Pie walked back inside, leaving the other students in silence. Vinnie turned to the other two girls.

"So… that went well." He shrugged

Vernajean frowned "Vinnie that did not go well."

"Yeah we're still right where we were before." Rosalie added

Vinnie nodded "Ok, ok so it didn't exactly go well. But we tried, right? And we're still out here so we prob'ly should make the best of it. We've got to come up with some way to get Epstein and Cutie Pie together again."

Rosalie nodded a little, pointing at Vinnie "We should first get them talkin' again, Vinnie. Then let _them _worry about getting back together."

"Yeah she's right." Vernajean added "No matter how much they want to be together, we can't bring them together for them, other than getting them talking again."

Vinnie nodded "Right. Ok let's go back in there and gather Horshack and Washington so we can talk about this with them." He started walking to the door, knowing the girls were following him. "Oh and," he grinned at them as he opened the door "Nice having this break with you girls. Hope we can do this again some time."

Rosalie and Vernajean looked at him with matching grins. They each laughed as they walked past him. Rosalie patted Vinnie on the chin before entering the school. With a small grin, Vinnie watched her walk ahead of him. He then walked into the school, closing the door. As he followed the girls down the hallway, he felt determined to see that his friends, Epstein and Cutie Pie, find happiness with each other again.

...

It was just after school and most of the Sweathogs had met up together as they walked to the Kotters' apartment. Epstein had declined the offer to join them. However, they realized this made things easier for them to enter the conversation without concern about his feelings. On their way to the apartment, Rosalie and Vernajean joined the guys and entered seamlessly into the current conversation about their friends Epstein and Cutie Pie.

By the time they arrived at the apartment and climbed up the fire escape, they entered as though they were expected by the teacher and his wife. Julie, who opened the window for them, merely grinned without question and turned to her husband.

"Gabe your students are here again." She said through her fake grin. "And let me guess, you have yet another issue to discuss with us."

"Very impressive Mrs. Kotter." Horshack said while nodding his head. "How did you ever guess?"

"Arnold," said Gabe, stepping over to them with a grin, "you are the only group of students who ever come by here. And you usually come here because of some sort of problem that you need help sorting out. So why would this time be any different?"

"And that's why we came here to talk to you, Mr. Kotter," said Vinnie as they entered the apartment "you really get us."

Gabe nodded with a slight grin. "Aren't we missing somebody?" He waved his hands in front of him in a bout of sarcastic surprise. "We're one Sweathog short! Epstein's not here!"

"Nice eye there, Mr. Kah-tare." Freddie said, stepping closer to Gabe. "Epstein's the reason we came here to talk to you. You see, he and Cutie Pie ain't been talking lately. But we know they want to talk."

"So we was hopin' that maybe you could help us come up with a way to get them talking again, Mr. Kotter." Rosalie said

"Not just that," Vernajean replied, "We also want to know if you could help us bring them back together. Since we know they still want to be together but they're being stubborn about it."

Gabe grinned, nodding his head a little. As he looked at all his students, he tried not to laugh, "Ah, so, you mean the brilliant minds of this entire group together could not come up with a good solution to this problem, so you all came here to get me to help you come up with one."

"You're just so good at it, Mr. Kotter." said Vinnie

"Well then," Julie smiled, motioning towards the couch "Why don't we all sit down and we'll brainstorm."

Everyone gathered, either on or around the couch to sit. They began talking about the situation with Epstein and Cutie Pie and what they could do to solve it. After a little bit of discussion, they all conjured up an idea that they felt was their best bet to get their two friends talking again.

Note: Mr. Piper, for those who don't know, is the science teacher present at Gabe's trial during the episode "Mr. Kotter: Teacher."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

A few students hung out in front of the gym, putting off heading into the dance. Vinnie and Freddie each with an arm around their dates, stood directly in front of the gym door, awaiting the arrival of their Sweathog friends. Pausing their conversation, they glanced up with matching grins as they spied Horshack and Epstein heading towards them. Epstein smiled with a small laugh as he greeted his friends with low fives. Horshack attempted to do the same but his friends pulled their hands away before making contact.

"Hey Epstein!" Vinnie said brightly "You actually made it!"

"Yeah yeah" Epstein turned a little to the side, holding open his suit jacket "Really clean up nice, don't I?" He wriggled his eyebrows with a grin, closing his jacket. "So, uh, what gives here?" He motioned towards the girls "You guys got hot chicks as dates and I'm stuck with being escorted by Horshack?" His statement was immediately followed by Horshack's laugh.

"Yeah you better treat yo' date right, Arnold." Freddie said with a small laugh "Hold her hand, open the do' for her."

"Hey!" Epstein looked at Horshack seriously "If you think we're slow dancin', you got another thing comin'!" He finished by raising a fist near Horshack's face. Seeing the fist, Horshack made his smile scarce.

Vinnie turned to the door, looking at his friends with a grin. "We're all here now. Why don't we go in there and show everyone how we Sweathogs do school dances?"

He opened the door and held an ushering hand out as a signal for Rosalie to walk ahead of him. Once he and Rosalie were inside the gym, Freddie did the same for Vernajean. Being the remaining ones in the hallway, Horshack turned to Epstein with a grin, holding his hand out in the same way. Epstein, not amused, frowned and pushed him forward.

"C'mon!" He said, following him into the gym.

The Sweathogs made their way through the group of fellow students. They slunk towards the small stage at the far end of the gym and checked out the band that was about to enter their first set for the dance. It was there where they decided they would remain for most of the dance. After a few moments of talking, laughing and watching the other students, their attention moved toward the door. Freddie cupped a hand on Epstein's shoulder and pointed toward the door as it opened.

"Check her out, Epstein." He said with a toothy grin

Epstein's eyes narrowed as he looked, trying to pinpoint whom Freddie was talking about. That was when he spotted her. She seemed to have a spotlight on her as she glided across the dance floor, separating the sea of students. Her simple black dress hugged her curves and stopped a little past her knees. Her brown hair hung gently framing her face in barrel curls. This was enough to throw Epstein off his game. Everything else about her appearance had him floored, frozen completely in his spot as he stared at her.

"Susie." He said softly, managing to recover his fallen jaw into a small grin.

Vinnie patted him on the back in encouragement "Go on over there and talk to her, Epstein."

Epstein shook his head, frowning. "Nah, no I can't." He started to walk away from the stage "I can't. She's… she's too beautiful." He swallowed and walked away, heading for the nearest exit.

The other three guys followed Epstein and kept him from straying too far. At the same time, the girls walked over to Cutie Pie to greet her. Epstein was grabbed on the arm, right before he could leave the gym. He was then pulled back out to the dance floor. By the time they got there, the girls were gone. However, instead of letting Epstein stray again, the guys kept him there to wait for the girls to return.

"Epstein!" Vinnie said with a smile "What are you afraid of?"

"Aw come on! I ain't afraid of nothin'!"

"Then how come every time you see Cutie Pie you run away like come creampuff?"

Epstein, clearly offended, narrowed his eyes and raised his fist at Horshack in a threatening manner. "Hey watch it, Horshack. I ain't no creampuff."

Freddie laughed, clapping his hands together "Well if you ain't no creampuff then why do you run away every time you see that chick? 'Specially when she's smaller than you?" He laughed again

Epstein sighed in frustration "Alright, alright. You guys all want me to go talk to her, so I will talk to her."

"Well good." Vinnie said, patting him in the back. "You hang tight, I'll go check on the girls."

Epstein tried quickly protesting this but Vinnie left the gym before he could say anything. Vinnie stepped into the hallway and immediately found the girls. They welcomed him into their conversation with smiled and he let them know about what Epstein had said about talking to Cutie Pie. To this, she perked up with a very slight grin before sinking back into herself with a sigh. Realizing this, the others coaxed her into talking about what was on her mind.

Meanwhile, inside the gym, the three remaining Sweathogs kept their spots in front of the band stage. They goofed around with each other and even exchanged wise cracks about their fellow students. At one point, Freddie stepped closer to the band and whispered something to the singer. Instead of questioning this action, Epstein shrugged it off and started poking fun at Horshack. A few minutes later Vinnie returned with a smooth grin and matching saunter. He walked over to Epstein and slapped him on the back.

"Talked to Cutie Pie out there. She had some pretty interesting things to say."

"Oh yeah?" Epstein asked interested but with a slight frown. "Well what did she have to say?"

Vinnie grinned "For starters, she explained why she dumped you."

"Really?" The interest in his voice rose to a higher level "Well lay it on me, Barbarino. What did she have to say?"

"Just to warn ya, Epstein, you ain't gonna like it."

"Yeah, yeah just tell me." He waved his hand encouragingly

"Alright." Vinnie nodded "Cutie Pie, she still really cares about you. That's why she had to break it off."

Epstein frowned in confusion "Now that don't make no sense, Barbarino."

"I know but listen. It was because of her father. Everybody in her family knew she was with you, 'cept for him."

Epstein narrowed his eyes a little. He looked away, feeling his heart sink. When he looked back up at his friends, he held no traces of this on his face. "So, you mean he had a problem with me."

"Well Cutie Pie's afraid of what he might do once he finds out about you. See you ain't exactly the type of guy he would want to be with her."

Epstein shook his head and stepped away from them. "But he don't know me! He ain't ever met me." He turned to face them again, hopping a little in place as he spoke. "How can he form an opinion about me unless he's met me, y'know? I ain't a bad guy. I ain't done nothing but treat her good when we were together."

"We know that, Epstein." Freddie said with a slight, reassuring grin "We also know about yo' bad rep. That's probably what her daddy don't like 'bout you."

"My bad rep?" He shook his head "Aw no. I ain't standin' for that. Sure I act tough. I've been known to get into fights. I may not got the best grades either. But I'm a good guy, y'know?"

Horshack grinned, looking as though he was about to make a humorous remark. A quick threatening scowl and a shake of a fist from Epstein shut him up before the quip could escape. Keeping their eyes on the door, Vinnie and Freddie placed their hands on Epstein, turning him around. As soon as he faced the door, he saw the girls entering the room. Rosalie and Vernajean each had Cutie Pie by a hand, leading her to the dance floor. At the same time, the other three guys began pushing Epstein forward. The two of them were brought together on the dance floor, looking confused towards the rest of their friends. As they turned back to each other they relaxed, yet, there was a wall of quiet awkwardness around them.

Epstein looked at her, waving a hand a little as he searched for his words. He brought his hands together, holding his fingers just beneath his chin. "So, uh, you look beautiful."

"Thank you." She blushed "You look real nice, Juan."

He nodded with a small grin before motioning towards their friends "I take it they want us to talk."

"It seems so." She nodded, grinning as well. "Their tactic wasn't very subtle."

He snickered "No it wasn't."

Thy stood there silently for a moment, neither of them knowing what to say. After awkwardly trying to start a conversation a couple times, they were interrupted by the band beginning a song. The singer of the band, before entering the song, made a quick announcement to say it was a special dedication for Epstein and Cutie Pie. At first, they, caught by surprise, were embarrassed. This embarrassment only lasted a couple seconds before they laughed it off. Epstein looked at her and smiled, holding out his hand for her to take. With her hand slipping into his, he led her further onto the dance floor.

"I s'pose our talk can be put on hold until after we dance."

He placed a hand on her back while holding onto her hand, leading her into a slow dance. As they began dancing, he looked her in the eyes with a slight grin. They both felt as though they should say something, but the music caused them to forget all about whatever was on their minds and just focus on the moment. Feeling more relaxed and with a bout of confidence, Epstein did something that completely took her by surprise. He gracefully twirled her and then nicely brought her into a dip. After bringing her back up, she beamed brightly at him.

"Wow, Juan! I had no idea you knew how to dance like this."

"Well, Cutie Pie, that's just one of my many secrets."

There was a moment where no words were spoken between them as they continued to dance. During this time, Epstein held a very faint smile upon his lips, but his eyes gave away most of his happiness.

"Juan, I've missed you."

"Don't speak, honey. Just keep dancin'."

On the other side of the room, the other three Sweathogs and their dates watched happily as the reunited couple danced.

"This is great." Vinnie smiled "Look at 'em."

"They look like two little lovebirds." Horshack said with a blissfully swooning tone. "Like a match made in Sweathog heaven."

"Hey man, didn't I tell you this would work?" Freddie asked, showing off a proud toothy grin.

"It worked out better than I hoped it would. I mean this moment is so perfect. Even the music is perfect for them." Vinnie laughed before singing along with the song in his highest falsetto voice. "Hold me closer tiny dancer! Count the headlights on the highway!"

Horshack's laughing interrupted him, drawing everyone's attention. "Tiny Dancer! Oh that is perfect 'cause they're both so small and they're dancing!" He laughed some more before the look from Vinnie stopped him.

"Yeah we got the point, Horshack." Freddie replied. "Now let's just watch the two lovebirds dance." He smiled, looking over at their two friends.


End file.
